


Shifting Sands

by missema



Series: Sacraments [11]
Category: Saints Row
Genre: Antagonism, Established Relationship, F/M, Saints Row 2 - Freeform, Stilwater, Ultor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2015-09-05
Packaged: 2018-04-19 02:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4730054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missema/pseuds/missema
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set near the end of SR2 as Ultor is waging war on the Saints. Dane Vogel pays Troy an unexpected visit at home. It's not appreciated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shifting Sands

Troy sighed as looked out the peephole, not liking the guest he saw on the other end. There was no choice but to answer, but he rolled his eyes heavenward before he did. Then he opened the door to his apartment, bodily blocking any view inside of it.

"Why are you here, Vogel?" he asked, not exactly surprised that the Ultor frontman had shown up unannounced, but not pleased either.

"Let me in. We need to talk business."

"Business that can't wait for business hours apparently," Troy replied, moving so that his unwanted guest could enter the apartment.

He let Vogel in two steps, and stood in front of him with his arms folded over his chest. Troy could never hide his annoyance when it came to Dane Vogel, but then again, he'd never really tried. The man sidestepped him and slithered into the living room, glancing around with a mildly curious expression. He finally turned back to Troy and flicked a disdainful glance over him.

"It's a nice place you've got here. And is that new ink, Chief? Very tasteful," Dane said, seating himself on Troy's couch despite not being invited.

It was indeed a new tattoo, not that Dane Vogel had any reason to know it. He had 'Elle' inked on the left side of his ribcage, in a decorative script. To Troy's knowledge, he'd never been shirtless in front of Dane Vogel before, so the Ultor exec would have no idea what would be new and what wouldn't. Troy was sure that it was just a way to remark on his state of dress, but he didn't care. Vogel was lucky Troy was even wearing pants. He'd been waiting for pizza, not a visit from his least favorite corporate whore.

"What do you want?" he asked, trying to keep his voice level.

"Do you have a female guest, or are you adopting a new style of dress?" Vogel countered, moving away from a discarded pile of Elle's clothes; her underclothes. Troy dragged a palm over his face.

"My girlfriend was here before. She went out, but she'll be back soon, so you better make it quick."

"Oh yes, I forgot about that. We saw her on the tapes months ago by the way, but I never did track down who it was. She's very good at avoiding our cameras. I would guess she's unsuitable in some way - got a few children or a former stripper perhaps? That's why you don't take her to all of those public events where a concerned constituency might see her. It doesn't matter, I'm not here to pry into your mundane personal life, Chief Bradshaw. I need to know what's being done about the Saints."

"Same as always. Got a few lines of information on the inside, but nothing steady," Troy said. "They're coming after Ultor because you started gunning for them. I suggest you call a truce."

Vogel's face twisted at Troy's suggestion, then smoothed back into his normal, unoffensive expression. If Dane wasn't such a practiced liar, he might done something as coarse as snort with derision at the Chief of Police. Troy watched him take a deep breath that barely seemed to calm him before speaking again.

"That's not good enough. Their leader murdered the entire Ultor board, right after she and her group of thugs attacked our research facility, and you're still working within the old paradigm," Dane said, his tone growing more tense with every word. Troy watched him, saw his face getting more and more crimson as if someone was tightening the garish ornage tie around Vogel's neck as he spoke.

"What do you want, Vogel?" Troy asked again.

"Find her. Find Lindsay Baker and arrest her. The Saints are nothing without their Boss. They will crumble and be out of way. Ultor can take care of the rest. Just find their leader, and this will all be over."

"I don't think that's true at all," Troy said.

"Are you speaking as a former gang member or the Chief of Police?" Vogel asked.

"Both. This is going to get worse the longer it goes on, and the longer it's dragged out, the more personal it is to the people involved. Arresting their leader will just inflame things. Call off your Masako goons. Stop it now and we might be able to maintain some order."

Dane shook his head. "We're having a press conference tomorrow to address our recent losses and future plans. Ultor needs to know that I, their new Chairman, will be safe. Taking out the leader of the Saints is the easiest way to make sure that happens. Do you follow?"

"Not gonna happen. I don't have the manpower to raid their base, and I wouldn't anyway, because I'm not a fool. We can provide you with more uniforms for your special event." Troy sighed before going on, running a hand through his hair. "You dealt with them before, when you needed them to take out the Ronin. Call them, Vogel. Make some inroads towards peace and they might stop aiming for your head."

"Ultor will not back down!" Scarlet bloomed across Dane Vogel's countenance once again. Troy wondered if the exec did cocaine. He wouldn't be surprised if Vogel did, and it would explain a good deal about him. Sweat broke out on Dane's forehead as he continued in a calmer voice. "Naturally, there must be justice for our losses, and future plans that can't be hindered for the good of Stilwater. If you can't see that, Troy, I can find someone that will."

"Don't make threats, Vogel. You asked and I told you what I thought. If you didn't want that, why'd you come here?"

Dane was saved from answering by the buzzing of the lower door chime. Someone wanted to come into the building and though Troy was sure it was pizza delivery, he let Vogel think it was his girlfriend returning. Troy buzzed the door open without comment and waited.

"This has been a pleasant chat, but I'll take my leave. Remember who put you where you are, Troy. Ultor's appreciation for your past efforts only extends so far. Have a good night, Chief," Vogel said smoothly, buttoning his suit jacket as he rose.

Vogel left quickly, and Troy watched him retreat down the hallway. He took the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, probably to avoid being seen by anyone coming up in the elevator. That was a strange move if he was really curious about the identity of Troy's girlfriend. Troy decided that Vogel couldn't really have been interested, otherwise the chance to see her would have outweighed the negatives of being seen coming from Troy's apartment. At least Vogel had spoken truly when he said that they weren't terribly interested in Troy's personal affairs.

The pizza showed up then, and Troy paid for it and took it back to the bedroom. Elle was sitting on the bed, wearing one of his shirts, a gun shining atop the rumbled sheets next to her.

"I'm glad you held off on the impulse to shoot Dane Vogel in my apartment. Not only would it look suspicious, but I bet he's a bitch to get out of the fabric on my couch."

She ignored his attempt at levity. "He made more than a few threats in there."

"He's a prick, but he's not always so skittish. You've got him scared," Troy said.

"Good," Elle said. The gun disappeared off the bed with a swift movement, and he watched as she put it back with her pile of clothes.

"Your panties are out on the couch," Troy told her.

Elle snorted. "Is that what he was talking about? Good. I hope he sat in the wet spot."

"Let's eat, sweetheart," he suggested, trying to get her off the subject of Dane Vogel.

Whatever she was thinking, whatever she'd heard, he didn't need to know. Knowing her plans would make him either party to them or obligated to try and stop them. They didn't talk as they doled out the pieces and resumed watching the movie Dane Vogel had interrupted. It was through a mouthful of cheese that Elle spoke again.

"If Vogel's seen video of me coming and going, maybe we need to think of another plan. Secrecy in a building they own can't last forever. You didn't even have to buzz him up, he just got in," she said.

Troy hadn't considered that, though he was concerned that Dane had known about Elle's visits. "What're you thinking?"

"I don't know. Moving would seem abrupt, and definitely make Vogel suspicious, but I don't think staying here is wise either. Maybe I'll get a place for the two of us. I don't know." She set a half-eaten slice of pizza back in the box in frustration, then looked at it and picked it back up again. "This is so fucked up it's making me miss the days when we were just hiding from Julius."

Troy gave a mirthless chuckle. "You know, that bastard had the right idea. It's all in the way you spin it."

"Yeah, but when he did it, he put the blame all on me. I don't have a scapegoat all lined up and unable to defend themselves." She paused then said, "but I do see your point. Hell, Dane Vogel himself is the prince of that shit. He made it sound like a good idea to run the locals out of Shivington and buy up the land after he played the gangs against each other to drive the value down. And that awful Monica Hughes is backing him."

His mind was racing, thinking ahead. Dane Vogel was rapidly burning himself down a path of self-destruction that Ultor wasn't going to allow for much longer. When Vogel got to the top, his reign would be short-lived, of that Troy was sure. But try as he might, he couldn't see how Elle was going to change the public perception of her enough to make the two of them acceptable. This would take more strategic planning than anything he'd done in the past, and he'd done his fair share of political maneuvering.

Troy reached over and pulled Elle closer to him, then placed a kiss on her forehead. "Just don't make me arrest you, alright?"

"No promises," she said, smiling up at him.


End file.
